Another NBA Draft is in the books. After all the rumors, projections, incorrect mock drafts, and soaring/dropping stocks, it is time to look at which teams had the best nights at the 2012 NBA Draft. Click here for my team-by-team drafts grades. You can also check out my 2012 NBA Draft winners.
2012 NBA Draft Losers
Indiana Pacers:
Now I get it, new Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard told Larry Bird that the team was going to use their first round pick on Duke’s Miles Plumlee. Bird was baffled by the decision, asked if Pritchard was joking, then resigned upon finding out Pritchard was serious. It all makes sense. Seriously though, I don’t care if Plumlee is almost seven-foot and athletic for his size; did the Pacers not see how unproductive he was during his career at Duke. Never once did I watch Miles play and think, “man, this dude is a first round pick.” Even if Orlando Johnson was a decent second round pick-up, it by no means makes up for taking Plumlee so high. Baffling.
Houston Rockets:
After loading up picks and trying to move up, the Rockets struck out on their reported ultimate goal of landing Dwight Howard via trade. Therefore, Houston was stuck with three first round picks and used the first one on Jeremy Lamb who I am not at all high on. Daryl Morey and his fascination of collecting assets took a pair of combo forwards at 16 and 18 in Royce White and Terrences Jones. It’s like Morey has adopted Isiah Thomas’ strategy of building a fantasy basketball team. They were decent value picks at the time but how do White and Jones fit into a power forward rotation that already features Luis Scola, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, and the recently acquired Jon Leuer and Jon Brockman. I guess White and Jones could play the three but now the Rockets don’t have a true big man on their roster. Unless a trade is coming in the near future, this could end up being a very poor draft for Houston.
Portland Trail Blazers:
To be honest, whichever team selected Meyers Leonard was going to end up in the “losers” category. I don’t think Leonard is going to amount to diddley-poo and think Portland should have played it safer with the 11th pick by selecting either Tyler Zeller or John Henson of North Carolina. Even with the sixth pick, I know the Blazers need a point guard, but I just feel like six was too high to take Damian Lillard. Will Barton was a great get at 40, but I would expect more from a team choosing twice during the lottery.
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft on the web.
You can follow him on Twitter at DavidKay_TSB.